Newsletter

Election 2012: Scott for chairman

CHATHAM COUNTY voters are lucky to have two excellent choices in this year’s open race for county commission chairman. They can’t go wrong.

Both Al Scott and Eddie DeLoach are attractive candidates who deserve credit for seeking the county’s top elected post. Each has experience and knowledge that would strengthen the commission and benefit the community.

Yet there are no co-chairmanships. Only one man serves in this office. This is a close call, but we give the edge to Mr. Scott.

Mr. Scott, the Democrat, would bring a wealth of valuable experience to this job. The former state legislator, state Labor Commissioner and member of the Georgia Ports Authority board has worked with diverse interests to achieve common goals for the good of the public. He can be expected to bring the same sense of purpose to the county commission for the next four years.

The biggest immediate challenge for the next commission is finding someone to succeed long-time County Manager Russ Abolt, who’s expected to retire. His retirement will follow that of Assistant County Manager Pat Monahan, another courthouse veteran.

Mr. Scott is uniquely suited to leading commissioners on a mission to find the most qualified person for the job. That’s because he’s done this before and succeeded.

The former chairman of the GPA chaired the search committee that hired Curtis Foltz as executive director of Georgia’s mammoth port operations. It was an excellent pick, allowing this fast-growing port to continue its positive momentum and contribute to the region’s economy.

No luck involved either. Instead, this outcome was the product of a measured process that Mr. Scott helped initiate.

Mr. Foltz served as chief operating officer for the ports for five years before getting the top job. This grooming and eventual promotion to the top spot validated Mr. Scott’s belief in the importance of strategic planning. He’s no seat-of-the-pants guy. Instead, he’d rather try to control destiny, rather than be controlled by it.

Mr. Scott helped create a five-year strategic plan for Georgia’s ports, which has paid off big time. Conversely, the county commission has been a typically reactive board, not a proactive one. It spends more time putting out today’s fires, rather than preventing tomorrow’s.

Mr. Scott’s approach includes establishing a vision for the entire county, including the municipalities, then figuring out how to make it a reality. That’s what local governments need, especially during a time of limited resources to pay for public services. This healthy process can serve as a unifying factor within local governments — something that has been lacking, as the fruitless talks over Local Option Sales Tax revenue has shown.

Outside of politics, Mr. Scott had a long career in private life as a manager at Union Camp/International Paper. So he knows the importance of helping businesses succeed and creating good jobs. He’s also the current branch president of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP, so he’s familiar with a broad spectrum of local needs and concerns.

Similarly, Mr. DeLoach, the Republican candidate for chairman, brings impressive credentials to the table, especially on the business side.

The former two-term Chatham County commissioner who represented Chatham’s westside built a successful business, TideWater Landscape Management, with little more than a pickup truck and a lawnmower. His firm isn’t just the largest landscaping company in the county. It’s a national company with 20 locations in 10 states.

He understands how to balance budgets, make payrolls and to spend and invest responsibly. He’s also attuned to people’s pocketbooks and everyday needs, like transportation.

For example, improving roads and drainage through continued Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funding is high on his agenda. Investing in such infrastructure almost always leads to a big payoff. While on the county commission, he worked with State Reps. Ron Stephens and Burke Day on writing the Stephens-Day bill. This measure has helped keep the lid on rising property taxes for many long-time homeowners here and was a model for similar laws elsewhere in Georgia.

Mr. DeLoach, like Mr. Scott, has been active in the community outside of politics. He’s a former board chairman of The Living Vine and former board member of Senior Citizens Inc. He’s also the son of two active parents who believed in community involvement, proving that good qualities can be handed down from one generation to the next.

Bottom line: Both Mr. Scott and Mr. DeLoach are class acts. Either would make a fine county commission chairman to succeed Pete Liakakis, who’s stepping down because service in this post is limited to two terms.